Study of Body Conformation of Carpet Wool Type Chitarangi Sheep of India using Principal Component Analysis

Background: The principal component analysis is applied to identify minimum number of combined variables that account for maximum portion of the variance existing in all variables studied. Chitarangi is a lesser known carpet type wool sheep distributed in Fazilka and Muktsar districts of Punjab, Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan and the adjoining areas. The information on body biometry is a prerequisite to characterize the lesser known sheep population available in the country. Hence, it is important to describe the body conformation by recording minimum number of biometric traits. Methods: Body biometry traits of Chitarangi sheep, a lesser known carpet quality wool producing sheep population were studied using Principal Component Analysis. The traits studied were body length (BL), height at wither (HW), chest girth (CG), paunch girth (PG), ear length (EL), face length (FL), face width (FW), tail length (TL) and adult body weight (BW). The data were collected on 297 ewes in the breeding tract of Chitarangi sheep. The descriptive statistics were determined for all the traits. The phenotypic correlations between different body biometric traits were estimated using partial correlations. Principal components were estimated using correlation matrix. Principal component analysis (PCA), a multivariate approach, is used when the recorded traits are highly correlated. Rotation of principal components was through the transformation of the components to approximate a simple structure. Factor analysis using oblique (promax) rotation was used. All the analysis was carried out using the SPSS statistical package. Result: The averages for body weight and biometry traits confirmed large size of Chitarangi animals. Most of the phenotypic correlations amongst the studied traits were positive and significant (p less than 0.01). The three components extracted from nine principal components accounted for 69.06% of the total variance. The first component, which described body size of ewes, accounted for 43.68% of the total variation with high loading for BW, CG, PG, HW, BL and FL. The components two and three explained 13.54 and 11.83% of total variance, respectively. The communalities ranged from 0.490 (FL) to 0.888 (PG). The lower communalities for face length indicated lower contribution of the trait to explain the total variation than others. The study indicates that principal components provided a means of reduction in number of biometric traits to explain body confirmation of adult female Chitarangi sheep.

Fleckscore system of exterior evaluation as a more accurate indirect predictor of longevity in Slovak Simmental dairy cows

The goal of the work was to discover the influence of conformation traits evaluated by the Fleckscore system on the length of productive life of Slovak Simmental dairy cows. Evaluation of body conformation traits according to the Fleckscore system was performed on 3 452 cows. The relationship of individual traits to longevity was analysed using the Weibull proportional hazard model. The results confirmed that smaller and longer cows, which were well muscular and with a deeper body, had a lower risk of early culling than cows in the reference group. Hock angularity, pastern and hoof height scored with low or high marks were associated with an early culling of cows. In terms of the length of productive life, a slightly more elastic pattern is required. Cows with a deeper udder and a stronger and tighter fore udder attachment, which were also average in notching and height central ligament and centrally placed teats, reached a longer productive life.

Variations in facial conformation are associated with differences in nasal microbiota in healthy dogs

Background Extrinsic and intrinsic factors have been shown to influence nasal microbiota (NM) in humans. Very few studies investigated the association between nasal microbiota and factors such as facial/body conformation, age, and environment in dogs. The objectives are to investigate variations in NM in healthy dogs with different facial and body conformations. A total of 46 dogs of different age, living environment and from 3 different breed groups were recruited: 22 meso−/dolichocephalic medium to large breed dogs, 12 brachycephalic dogs and 12 terrier breeds. The nasal bacterial microbiota was assessed through sequencing of 16S rRNA gene (V1-V3 regions) amplicons. Results We showed major differences in the NM composition together with increased richness and α-diversity in brachycephalic dogs, compared to meso−/dolichocephalic medium to large dogs and dogs from terrier breeds. Conclusion Healthy brachycephalic breeds and their unique facial conformation is associated with a distinct NM profile. Description of the NM in healthy dogs serves as a foundation for future researches assessing the changes associated with disease and the modulation of NM communities as a potential treatment.

The Effect of Location and Parity in The Body, Udder Conformation and Milk Production Traits in Buffaloes

Seventy two adult lactating Iraqi buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) were chosen randomly from two regions of Iraq, Baghdad (Abu Ghraib Ruminants Researches Station in the west of Baghdad, Iraq) and AL-Muthanna province (Alhilal township), during 2018/2019 lactating season. The effect of location and parity in the body, udder conformation and milk production traits were studied. The body conformation, body weight, udder measurements, and milk production traits were significant to high significant effected by both the location and the parity except there is the non-significant effect of location on body height at the shoulder, front teat diameter, rear teat length and rear teat diameter. Similarly non-significant effect of parity was observed on front teat diameter, rear teat length, distance between front and rear teats, fat%, lactose%, and SNF%.

Genome-Wide Detection of Genetic Loci and Candidate Genes for Body Conformation Traits in Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire Crossbred Pigs

The Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire) hybrid pigs (DLY) are the most popular commercial pigs, providing consumers with the largest source of pork. In order to gain more insights into the genetic architecture of economically important traits in pigs, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the GeneSeek Porcine 50 K SNP Chip to map the genetic markers and genes associated with body conformation traits (BCT) in 311 DLY pigs. The quantitative traits analyzed included body weight (BW), carcass length (CL), body length (BL), body height (BH), and body mass index (BMI). BMI was defined as BMICL, BMIBL, and BMIBH, respectively, based on CL, BL, and BH phenotypic data. We identified 82 SNPs for the seven traits by GEMMA-based and FarmCPU-based GWASs. Both methods detected two quantitative trait loci (QTL) on SSC8 and SSC17 for body conformation traits. Several candidate genes (such as TNFAIP3, KDM4C, HSPG2, BMP2, PLCB4, and GRM5) were found to be associated with body weight and body conformation traits in pigs. Notably, the BMP2 gene had pleiotropic effects on CL, BL, BH, BMICL, and BMIBL and is proposed as a strong candidate gene for body size due to its involvement in growth and bone development. Furthermore, gene set enrichment analysis indicated that most of the pathway terms are associated with regulation of cell growth, negative regulation of cell population proliferation, and chondrocyte differentiation. We anticipate that these results further advance our understanding of the genetic architecture of body conformation traits in the popular commercial DLY pigs and provide new insights into the genetic architecture of BMI in pigs.

149 Integration of Selection Signatures Analyses and Weighted Single-step GWAS to Prioritize Candidate Genes for Body Conformation Traits in Pigs

Body conformation traits such as body height (BH) and body length (BL) have been included in the swine industry’s selection criteria. The objective of this study was to identify the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and candidate genes for pig conformation traits using an integration of selection signatures analyses and weighted single-step GWAS (WssGWAS). Body measurement records of 5,593 Yorkshire pigs of which 598 animals were genotyped with Illumina 50K panel were used. Estimated breeding values (EBVs) for BH and BL were computed using univariate animal models. Genotyped animals were grouped into top 5% and bottom 5% based on their EBVs, and selection signatures analyses were performed using fixation index (Fst), FLK, hapFLK, and Rsb statistics, which were then combined as a Mahalanobis distance (Md) framework. The WssGWAS was conducted to detect the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the studied traits. The top 1% SNPs (n=530) from Md distribution that overlapped with the top 1% SNPs from WssGWAS (n = 530) were used to detect the candidate genes. A total of 31 and six overlapped SNPs were found to be associated with BH and BL, respectively. Several candidate genes were identified for BH (PARVA, DCDC1, SYT1, CASTOR2, RGSL1, RGS8, RBMS3, TGFBR2, and HS6ST1) and BL (SNTB1, AK7, PAPOLA, KSR1, CHODL, and BMP2), explaining 2.58% and 0.42% of the trait’s genetic variation, respectively. Our results indicated that integrating data from the signatures of selection tests with WssGWAS could help elucidate genomic regions underlying complex traits.

PSXV-3 The influence of the dams genotype on the indicators of the breeding value of offspring

Aberdeen Angus cattle of Australian breeding is a new ecological and genetic genotype and it is currently in the process of formation and differentiation, the genealogy of the breeding stock is represented by the leading related groups of bulls-leaders of domestic and imported breeding. The aim of this work was to study the breeding value of Bismarck5682bovine cows of Australian selection (n = 20) and Design1015 (n = 20) of domestic reproduction of the Aberdeen-Angus breeding and their influence on the selection and genetic parameters of the productivity of heifers-daughters. It was revealed that the representatives of the Design line had an advantage in live weight (615.4 kg,lim-705-495kg) by 9.8% (P < 0.001), milk productivity (219.7 kg,lim-241-184kg) by 2.4% (P > 0.05) and height insacrum (134.5 cm,lim-140cm-128cm) by 4.1% (P < 0.001) compared to peers of Bismarck line.The ability of animals to realize their breeding potential is determined by many factors. So, it was revealed that the heifers of Design lineexceeded their peers from Bismarck group in live weight in 15 months (359.8 kg, Cv-5.24%) by 5.2%, (P >0.05), average daily gain (652.8 g, Cv-7.86%) - 10.6% (P< 0.001), body conformation score (19.7 points, Cv-3.72)- 14.5% (P< 0.01). It should be noted that heifers – daughters of the Bismarck genealogical line gave in sacrum height but had a better estimate of meat forms by 2.9% with reliable values. These results allow us to conclude that the offspring of the Bismarck 5682 genealogical line of Australian breeding are more affected by the negative factors of the new breeding zone. Thus, a step-by-step selection evaluation of the breeding stock will allow more reliable identification of breeding bulls with a better ability to improve valuable distinguishing features in the generations of cows during their linear breeding. The research was carried out within the framework of RAS 0526-2021-0001.